Category Archives: LMA in the media

As 2016 draws to a close we would like to celebrate the thousands of people who have participated and graduated from an LMA course this year. As high achievers, we hope that you continue to practice LMA’s teaching, utilise the tools within the workplace and set goals in both your personal and professional lives.

Remember that high achievers:

Think positively (Above the Line)

Are willing to pay the price for success

Are willing to accept personal responsibility

Expect to succeed

Set goals in all areas of life

Are on a journey of self discovery and self improvement

Congratulations to the 2016 Graduates of Leadership Management Australasia!

THEY have a reputation for job hopping and leaving employers in the lurch — but all Millennials and Generation Y workers really are after is to be challenged.

Employers hesitant about giving young, inexperienced staff a go, often for fear of investing time and money in training then losing them to another employer, may want to look at what they are doing wrong to push them away.

Leadership Management Australasia strategy and growth executive director Andrew Henderson said there had been a big disparity between what young workers wanted and what they were being given by their boss.

Mr Henderson said young staff used to immediate feedback in a technological world wanted regular feedback and communication at work, whether it was what they were doing wrong or right.

As we all know from being a member of a team, the success of the group—and indeed the entire organisation—can depend a lot on the dynamics that exist within the team. Think briefly about the team you spend the most time within. No doubt you will be able to conjure up a selection of characters who all fill different roles within the group. One may be the dominant voice, another may be the problem solver, someone else may be the conflict manager, and the formal leader of the group emerges clearly as that one person who has the power to make the final decision.

While you or someone else in the team may be recognised as this formal leader, you may also have an awareness of a different kind of leader within your team, someone who seems to have an uncanny ability to influence people and promote change; namely, the informal leader. Often charismatic, distinctly loyal and influential, informal leaders are not usually designated by the organisation as a formal ‘leader’, but there is something about them that makes them stand-out and have a definitive sway over the performance and outcome of those around them.

With a bit more awareness of what informal leaders can bring to your organisation when properly nurtured, you can find industrious ways to partner with them that can initiate substantial change and company-wide improvements.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN INFORMAL LEADER

While few studies have delved very deeply into the formal leader’s role in encouraging or discouraging the emergence of informal leaders, the ones that have been completed have provided some pivotal information. To best utilise your informal leaders, you first have to be able to recognise them. Knowing some key characteristics can assist you early on in the process:

Authoritative characteristics:

They are not designated as leaders by the organisation, but frequently wield extensive influence because of their ability to help other team members satisfy needs and reach goals;

They tend to listen to all points of view before making decisions. Relationship characteristics;

They are automatically sought out for advice and help when a colleague experiences a problem;

They are often outstanding team members with common sense and loyalty to the company;

They are likely to mentor other employees without being asked.

Communication characteristics:

They contribute greatly to your success and the success of your team when they are entrusted with additional responsibility;

Their communication style relies on camaraderie and shared interests.

Clients of Leadership Management Australasia licensee Suzanne Wilson knew they had an informal leader in their team when they recognised one of their top agent’s work ethic and natural leadership skills. Charlotte and James Marshall own several Harcourts Charlton Realty offices in Auckland; the scope and workload means they rely heavily on having informal leaders within their teams.

“Mike [Robson] works as a senior sales consultant alongside a team of six or seven other agents. He has a style that is emulated by others. He is calm, considered, focuses on helping others and acts as a sounding board and mentor to everyone he works with,” Charlotte Marshall explains.

“Mike has no ego and is well respected within the office and the community. This behaviour then rubs off on the team. Mike also attends anything that is put on by the business and supports the business by modelling the way for others. The fact that this is authentic behaviour and not forced means it has even more impact,” Charlotte says.

Do you know someone in your organisation who sounds similar to Mike? If so, it is likely you have found an informal leader who is waiting to be developed and utilised.

INFORMAL LEADERS: HOW TO SEEK THEM OUT

While HR professionals and team leaders often do recognise that shared leadership brings benefits to team performance and ultimately organisational success, understanding how to create the conditions for informal leaders to emerge and facilitate change still remains a challenge.

After you have identified who your informal leaders are, it is important to have an actionable plan so HR managers can successfully nurture them for the betterment of the entire team.

Formal process. Perhaps most obvious and traditional is to perform regular performance interviews. Traditional HR tools such as this can help open up the discussion regarding further training or development in the future as part of a larger plan for their career path and choices. While this doesn’t necessarily have to lead to a formal promotion, you have acknowledged the informal leader and tacitly have encouraged them to be a positive influencer within the organisation through your trust in them.

Invite them to the table. The leader contributes to the security of the group by providing information readily and openly with their team members. While you may not be able to share everything with the informal leader, it is useful to consider their opinion and influence when decisions are being handed down from upper management. Their insight and influence within the employee network can be invaluable when trying to gauge reaction to intended changes or developments that will affect all staff.

Express a shared vision. In the absence of a shared vision, informal leaders will still work towards their goals, however those goals will not be perceived as being for the betterment of the group, and will therefore not be an intrinsic motivator for the key influencer in the group. Conversely, with a high level of shared team vision, informal leaders will instinctively bring the group around them to see the positivity of the change represented by the shared vision for the whole team. By promoting a companywide shared vision, you are activating the intrinsic motivation of the informal leader, while also positively affecting those around them.

WHY ARE INFORMAL LEADERS SO IMPORTANT?

There is no one way or shortcut to seeking out your informal leaders; it takes a manager with strong relationships with their team to be able to dedicate the time and effort to get to know their informal leaders and see the potential they can bring to the entire group.

So, why should you take the time to seek out and recognise your informal leaders?

The ever-shrinking traditional middle layer of management has effectively been replaced by a variety of different individuals fulfilling roles as project and product and team leaders. Often, your informal leaders will be these workers, those getting busy and getting work done. They often seem to be on a mission to change the world, or at least improve their organisation for the better.

For Charlotte and James Marshall, having an informal leader like Mike on the team means that everyone benefits from his presence.

“In a sales environment where it is often highly competitive, Mike supports the Charlton Realty philosophy of ‘everyone helps everyone’. He isn’t the brand manager and he isn’t asked to do these things—it just happened. People like him, they want to be successful like him and so they do what he does,” Charlotte explains.

From Charlton Realty’s perspective, it is clear that by taking the time and making the effort to know who their informal leaders are, they are able to better implement their strong company culture and more clearly navigate other staff towards even higher and more focused achievement.

DEVELOPING YOUR INFORMAL LEADERS

Knowing who fits into what role within a well-functioning team can be the difference between a high-performing team and a one that consistently underperforms and underwhelms.

To best cultivate the talent that you have, the issue of building and supporting informal leadership has to first transcend the day-to-day operations and concerns of your organisation; it has to be a focus for the greater development and transformation of the place and the people around you to match the ever-changing and challenging world.

For Theo Fryer at Commercial Door Services in Christchurch, the informal leaders in his team have been developed through additional training as well as in practice through their specific roles within the team.

“There are many roles within the business that don’t have the title leader, but where people actually need to take on leadership responsibilities,” says regional manager Theo. “Kyle, one of the Commercial Doors team members who recently attended a leadership development programme with LMA (Leadership Management Australasia), is one of these people.

“Recently, Kyle has been acting as a mentor or coach for a new team member. This is not a formal arrangement; however, he has taken on the responsibility of growing and developing this person and sharing his knowledge to help him,” Theo says. For Theo and his team at Commercial Door Services, developing their informal leader Kyle through training and then substantiating this with opportunities for on-the-job development has been key to achieving the team’s greater strategic development goals.

However, as with most things to do with informal leadership, there are numerous directions you can take when choosing to develop their influence and position within the team.

Consider promotion, but not as a given. While it may seem that promoting informal leaders to formal positions of power makes sense, it can also be a case of too much power and not enough training or preparation. Take all repercussions and benefits into account before proceeding with a promotion of influential informal leaders, and ensure the informal leader is consulted throughout the process about their genuine career aspirations.

Utilise your early adopting informal leaders. By involving your adept informal leaders in performance pilots or team developments, you are entrusting them to be the first to experience and evaluate changes and provide their insight into them. By doing so, you are fulfilling their desire to be more involved with important decisions and development, while also gaining a support system for the changes you are intending to implement with a sturdy influencer behind it in your informal leader.

In the case of Commercial Door Services, for example, while Kyle wasn’t formally promoted, Theo noted: “Without this sort of informal leadership, the time for staff to be inducted would be considerably longer and therefore impact the bottom line. The most important characteristics Kyle has that make him an informal leader are his strong values and care for others, as well as his ongoing support of the business.”

Allow room for people to move beyond traditional boundaries. You and your informal leader will succeed if they are encouraged to create value and build their own sense of ownership across the organisation. Work with them to develop new projects and allow room for them to grow and experiment with what is possible. In a modern marketplace where speed, flexibility and adaptability have never been in greater demand, existing leaders would be well served to think of informal leadership cultivation as a key management tactic not just to get work done, but to traverse the current boundaries holding back the multitude of talent.

Originally published in ‘Employment Today’ August 2015 – ‘Employment Today’ is New Zealand’s leading independent HR and employment law magazine.

Workers spend on average 2.6 hours of their work day reading and answering more than 100 emails which largely should not be read or sent in the first place.

Email is one of the most common forms of communication yet also one of the most misused by workers who use it for everything from avoiding conversations in person to distributing business critical information.

While other technologies such as social media, video chat and instant messaging have been introduced, emails continue to be the main source of electronic communication. It leads to workers spending 28 per cent of their workday caught up reading and typing responses to email, the McKinsey Global Institute finds. Email use is no longer limited to office workers, with it increasingly becoming a staple for organisations to communicate with trades workers and contractors out in the field.

Leadership Management Australasia’s Leadership, Employment and Direction (L.E.A.D) Survey director Adrian Goldsmith says email use is more widespread today than a decade ago but for some has become all-consuming. “It’s a net positive – but you’ve just got to control it,” he says.

31% OF PEOPLE CHECK EMAIL ON THEIR MOBILE PHONE AT LEAST FIVE TIMES A DAY

Statistics from technology market research firm The Radicati Group show 108.7 billion emails were sent and received for business reasons each day in 2014. It equals an average of 121 emails for each worker. By 2018, it will increase to more than 139.4 billion emails in total, or an average of 140 emails for each worker. Yet most employees believe they can only comfortably deal with about 50 emails a day, a survey by Harris Interactive reveals.

LEARN HOW TO USE IT Most workers use less than 10 per cent of the capability of their email system because they have not got around to learning how to use the features, Goldsmith says. Sorting emails into fields, task lists, filters, level of importance and other settings can dramatically affect inbox organisation and therefore productivity. “It helps people go through their day in a more systematic way,” he says.

HAVE A PLAN Email doesn’t always have to be the first task of the day. Goldsmith says doing so immediately feeds unproductive behaviour that flows through the day. He suggests not opening emails until 10am – if possible – and using the first part of the day to get essential work done. “A lot of people don’t plan their days, then get busy and strung out and unproductive because they don’t have a plan for the day,” he says. “Start out with a plan (and if you get knocked off it) you’ve got something to fall back to.”

WRITE IT RIGHT Workers can get frustrated when others don’t respond to their emails, while others get stuck reading those that aren’t important. Goldsmith says whether a worker’s name is in the To or CC field can and should affect whether they read it. “If you want me to act on it, put my name in the box marked for your attention, rather than for your interest,” he says. “Send the signal to people that if you want them to reply, put their name in the read box.” But some are reading too much. “A lot of people read the CCs automatically and lose hours during the day,” he says. “For some people, they are getting 100 to 200 emails a day and a quarter or half of these they are CCed into rather than addressed to. They are reading other people’s stuff.”

When people communicate, only 10 per cent of what is understood comes from the words being said, with 30 per cent coming from tone and 60 per cent non-verbal language – meaning written communication can be easy to misconstrue, Goldsmith says. “It’s very hard to impart the full message. It needs to be short, sharp, have an action approach, and it should have a clear indication of what the email is about. It needs a reasonably punchy subject line , otherwise it’ll get into the whitewash,” he says.

USE IT WISELY Many workers feel that if they’ve sent an email, they have communicated the message. “Some people think email is great because you don’t have to talk to people,” Goldsmith says. “If they can avoid having these conversations, email is a convenient way of doing it. But for a lot of organisations, it’s a handbrake (that stops productivity). An all-staff email may have little thought why some people shouldn’t receive it.” If there’s a need to communicate a personal or confidential matter, or one that needs a human touch, face-to-face or over the phone is better.

TURN IT OFF Turn off automatic alerts and limit how often the inbox is checked – unless it’s urgent.

USERS ADMIT BETWEEN 25% AND 50% OF TIME SPENT ON EMAIL IS UNPRODUCTIVE

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

GOOD

Email is effective to send documents, one message to many people and formal communication requiring a paper trail

The best emails are short, concise and quickly read

BAD

Most senders can only assume the recipient has read it. A read receipt can only confirm email has been opened

Many senders do not know it has been read until what is outlined has been actioned

UGLY

Email is poorly used when an immediate response is required, confidential information discussed, and when the message can be misconstrued

If responses go back and forth two or three times, phone or discuss face to face

Leadership skills research reveals widespread mediocracy

Nearly half of middle and frontline managers and supervisors rate their leadership skills as average or below average, according to “disturbing” findings from Leadership Management Australia.

Analysis of more than 3,000 responses to LMA’s online DIY competency test found executives had the highest average competency rating (3.7 out of 5), followed by middle managers (3.6), employees (3.6) and frontline managers and supervisors (3.4).

Overall, a quarter of the respondents rated their skills as average, and 16 per cent as below average, on the five key competencies listed for their management level.

A “disturbing result” is that 35 per cent of executives, 40 per cent of middle managers, 47 per cent of frontline managers and 42 per cent of employees rate their leadership skills as average or below average, LMA says.

LMA executive director of strategy and growth Andrew Henderson adds that little has changed in four years of analysis, and he describes the results as “a call for help”.

“By revealing a shortfall in their own leadership and management competencies, the workforce says it wants to excel, but isn’t allowed. Equipping people with the skills they need will lift performance and productivity for the organisation, and the economy in general.”

In 2015, the Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA) Awards recognised three outstanding performers in the industry with the Future Leaders Award. As part of the acknowledgement for their hard work and talent, joint winners Samantha Lowry, Senior Procurement Advisor, Department of Education & Training and Danielle Brennan, Category Specialist, Stanwell Corporation were awarded with an opportunity to partake in Leadership Management Australia’s ‘The Performance Edge’ course. Joining them on the personal development journey was High Commendation Future Leader recipient Nathan Barrett, National Health and Safety Manager for Young Guns Container Crew.

With their own set of goals, expectations and aspirations, all three industry leaders entered ‘The Performance Edge’ as upcoming leaders, but all left with a greater sense of their own potential and actions for the future.

For High Commendation winner Nathan Barrett, the opportunities ‘The Performance Edge’ could offer were numerous, ‘I wanted to challenge myself to become a formal leader within my business and to further challenge ourselves as a Health & Safety team to lead the way in all aspects of our business,’ Nathan explains.

Nathan’s dedication to rise to a challenge has taken him into ‘The Performance Edge’ course, a program traditionally only awarded to Future Leaders winners, and on to achieve more than even he had thought possible.

‘I didn’t really know what to expect, I entered the course with an open mind as to the opportunities that would be afforded,’ Nathan says.

‘I was very poor at documenting goals and pulling them apart into individual steps, coordinating them in sequence and then executing them. ‘The Performance Edge’ has allowed me to see the value in documenting goals, breaking them down into manageable tasks and then completing them.

This has allowed me to organise myself and see progression with my team, rather than simply waiting for the outcome and then discussing whether we hit or missed the target,’ Nathan says.

Similarly for Danielle, the course allowed her to take stock of the way she achieved tasks, and how she could improve her processes to achieve even more.

‘Prior to commencing ‘The Performance Edge’ course I had heard from professional associates that it was beneficial on a time management front. I had expected to improve my time management, but not as much or as far as Leadership Management Australia made possible,’ Danielle explains.

‘Admittedly, prior to ‘The Performance Edge’ I was not a good goal setter. I achieved a lot, but I had never sat down and thought about my long term goals and how I would achieve them.

I am now achieving the big, audacious tasks, by breaking them down and using the goal setting framework Leadership Management Australia teaches,’ Danielle says.

Not one to sit on the sidelines, decision maker and go-getter Samantha also found new focus through the course, ‘I was practiced in goal setting, however setting focus goals each week improved my current practices,’ she says.

With her recent completion of a Diploma of Government (Procurement and Contracting) and career aspirations of becoming a chief procurement officer, Samantha is well on her way, ‘I am focused on balancing all areas of my life now,’ she says. ‘In the next 12 months I hope to see myself and my team become more productive, and to expand my procurement experience beyond the ICT category.’

As ‘The Performance Edge’ covers a wide array of material, each of the participants finished the development journey with a different stand-out takeaway lesson.

‘Prior to this course I would set a task list each day,’ Danielle says. ‘Each day I would receive ‘more important’ tasks from others, and acceptance of these tasks would disrupt my day plan. Since undertaking ‘The Performance Edge’ course, I now know what my High Payoff Activities are. The course has also assisted with my mindset towards goals, and how the power of positive affirmation can assist with goals being achieved,’ she says.

Always aiming for the next step forward, Samantha is determined to continue applying the time management skills learnt throughout the course, ‘I valued gaining more knowledge into how to manage my time better, and learning how to say no when I need to,’ she says.

For Nathan, the lessons learnt during the course carry over into his team as well, ‘I’ve already seen an increase in quality of work from all of my team members. My biggest takeaway from the course was that previously I expected my team to perform to my expectations, without giving them the full knowledge of ‘why’ they were being asked to do what they were doing…now I try to ensure that my team is fully aware of business goals, expectations and direction so that they have an overall picture of what needs to be done to achieve the required outcome,’ he says.

With the skills and knowledge gained from ‘The Performance Edge’ now a part of these Future Leaders personal and professional toolkit, the future looks bright and sure to be filled with more achievements and milestones to come.

As 2015 draws to a close we would like to celebrate the thousands of people who have participated and graduated from an LMA course this year. As high achievers, we hope that you continue to practice LMA’s teaching, utilise the tools within the workplace and set goals in both your personal and professional lives.

Remember that high achievers:

Think positively (Above the Line)

Are willing to pay the price for success

Are willing to accept personal responsibility

Expect to succeed

Set goals in all areas of life

Are on a journey of self discovery and self improvement

Congratulations to the 2015 Graduates of Leadership Management Australia!

Leadership Management Australia and The Growth Faculty are excited to announce that multiple New York Time best-selling author and international thought leader Joseph Grenny will be joining the Growth Summit in 2016.

For thirty years Joseph Grenny has delivered dynamic and engaging keynotes at major conferences around the world. A highly sought-after social scientist, commentator and author, Joseph has inspired leaders and organisations to achieve previously unimagined new levels of peak performance. Cited in hundreds of newspapers around the world and having appeared on numerous radio and television programs, Joseph’s expert opinion carries enormous weight in the international business community. With his specific focus on human behaviour, Joseph’s insights are invaluable to any organisation that values its people and the way they interact with one another, their work and their industry each day.

An outstanding protégé of Albert Bandura, the world’s greatest living psychologist, Joseph’s life-long research into human interaction provides a model for how to turn leaders into influencers, and how to ensure the change they enact is long-lasting, meaningful and profitable.

Having shared the stage with other speaking greats such as Jack Welch, Colin Powell and this year’s Summit powerhouse Jim Collins, Joseph is an exhilarating addition to an already powerful program for next year’s Summit.

The one-day program will address the current challenges many leaders and entrepreneurs face and will provide you with the relevant tools and strategies to compete in this dynamic and constantly shifting environment. Joseph’s expert voice will conclude the day’s program with an in-depth analysis on how influencers can generate lasting and effective organisational change.

For a limited time you can take advantage of discounted ticket prices to secure your seat at this life-changing event. Book before Friday 18 Decemberto secure your discounted ticket and give yourself the opportunity to learn from international recognised speakers and leaders.

Read about how previous attendees to the Growth Summit have benefited from the wisdom imparted at the event.

“Speakers were fantastic. So much content to think about and try to implement. If I only implement 5% of what I have heard it’s very worthwhile.” Renee Hutchinson, One Harvest

Earlier this month, the Australian Supply Chain and Logistics (ASCL) Awards were held in Sydney. The oldest and most prestigious awards program in the industry, the ASCL Awards represent the most recognised and esteemed awards for an individual or a company to be awarded. As a proud sponsor of this yearly event, LMA is always eager to hear about how each nominee is taking strides to lead and develop the industry into the future.

Particularly coveted during the Awards proceedings is the Future Leaders Award. The purpose of the Future Leaders Award is to provide incentive and recognition to young professionals who are both currently working in and wish to continue their career path within the Supply Chain, Logistics and Transport Industry. As part of their win, each Future Leader is awarded with an enrolment into LMA’s ‘The Performance Edge’ 10-week development program.

LMA will soon be welcoming High Commendation Future Leader recipient Nathan Barrett, National Health and Safety Manager from Young Guns Container Crew in Brisbane into ‘The Performance Edge’ program. Industrious, intelligent and team orientated, Nathan is representative of what the Future Leaders Awards are all about, developing professional and personal skills and encouraging the leaders of tomorrow to step up into their future roles.

“The greatest attribute I see in effective leaders is empathy… Knowing when to push for higher expectations, yet also identifying when assistance is needed,” Nathan says.

Founded in Brisbane and now with a nationwide presence, Young Guns Container Crew has a reputation for the high quality service and professionalism it has injected into the industry. Ten years old and now with over 400 team members, the business is committed to providing opportunities for the people it employs and for their customers.

Traditionally, ‘The Performance Edge’ program is only awarded to the Future Leaders winner but Nathan’s dedication to his own development and interest in progressing to become an industry leader has seen him recognised by his peers and mentors as someone unquestionably deserving of this high level of training.

“I want to take away some specific techniques and tips on dealing with our customers and becoming leaders within the industry, as opposed to a leader in our business. I’m excited to learn from the outstanding people I have met from LMA and look forward to developing my personal skillset.”

The future looks bright for both Young Guns Container Crew and the Supply Chain, Logistics and Transport Industry with both recognising that their power and progression is in their people and how they are developed in the years to come.

Manufacturing industries are more advanced with implementing sustainable practices than other industry sectors, according to specialist on-site workforce training organisation, Think Perform.

Andrew Henderson, Executive Director – Strategy and Growth at Think Perform – the sister company of Leadership Management Australasia – said new survey data showed the manufacturing industry valued the importance of sustainability more than 16 other sectors covered by the research.

“Manufacturers appear to be more in harmony with implementing sustainable practices and in fact are more likely to be consolidating them and actively living the values of sustainability,” he said.

While almost all leaders, managers and employees in the survey were able to identify the status of their organisation in relation to sustainable practice, responses indicated that almost 10 percent of organisations had not yet begun to think about it, Mr Henderson said.

Of the 3,182 respondents, 743 were in manufacturing (covering automotive, food and beverage, printing and packaging, rubber and plastics, textiles, clothing and footwear) while the remainder were from 16 other industry sectors.

The 16 other sectors were: agriculture, forestry, fishing (primary production); mining; electricity, gas and water supply; construction; wholesale trade; retail trade; tourism, accommodation, cafes and restaurants; transport and storage; communication services; finance and insurance; property and business services; government administration and defence; education; health and community services; cultural and recreational services; and personal and other services.

49% of manufacturing leaders, 56% of managers and 40% of employees believed their organisations were well down the path or highly advanced and living the sustainability values compared to 31%, 45% and 34% in other business sectors.

17% of manufacturing leaders, 14% of managers and 18% of employees believed their organisations had not begun to think about sustainability or started thinking but taken no action compared to 27%, 18% and 20% in other sectors.

Leaders in manufacturing and the other 16 sectors rated the importance of sustainability as “quite important” whereas managers and employees rated it higher as “very important”.

“The focus of manufacturing organisations on global competitiveness, profitability and ultimately the sustainability of the sector itself would seem to have sharpened the focus on what it means to operate sustainably,” said Mr Henderson.

“Improved processes in sourcing, efficient energy use, recycling and LEAN-ing the operations of so many businesses in this sector have become more than just lip-service. The focus on living the values of sustainability has become a mantra for many and a new way of life for most in this sector.”

Mr Henderson said Think Perform had been working with many organisations that would describe their past practices as unsustainable.

“Close focus — some would say obsession — on processes, systems, the role of people in organisation performance and the identification and stripping out of waste has become standard practice for most clients”.

“Organisations of all types, not just manufacturers are urged to take a close look at their operations and start or continue the journey towards sustainability. Leaders and managers who ignore the imperative to ‘get sustainable’ do so at their peril and are putting their organisations and their people at risk”, Mr Henderson said.